Asekretis

The term asekretis (Greek: ἀσηκρῆτις, romanized: asēkrētis, invariable form) designated a senior class of secretaries in the Byzantine imperial court in the 6th–12th centuries.

The term is derived from the Latin a secretis, and in its full form was "asekretis of the court" (ἀσηκρῆτις τῆς αὐλῆς, asēkrētis tēs aulēs).

Seals of the office's holders survive from the 6th and 7th centuries, while a reference from the Third Council of Constantinople (680) indicates the existence of a senior asekretis who functioned as head of the class, probably the predecessor of the later protasekretis.

[2] Eminent members of the class included the emperor Anastasios II (r. 715–717), and the Patriarchs of Constantinople Tarasios (784–806) and Nikephoros I (806–815).

[3] The office continues to be mentioned until the 12th century, after which it disappears, with the generic term grammatikos taking its place.